2017 ME/CFS Awareness Day Media Coverage (post links here)

I'm starting a thread to collect articles covering this year's International ME/CFS Awareness Day. The first comes from Ireland. It includes a news video taken at a #MillionsMissing demonstration in front of the legislature in Dublin.

My lovely friend and fellow M.E sufferer' mum will be taking shoes for me and others to the millions missing protest in Birmingham, UK tomorrow. I am so grateful to her mum for doing this for us. She will be taking 6 pairs of shoes.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/ chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by substantial disability that affects daily activities and is accompanied by profound fatigue that is not relieved by rest. While varying by person and affecting many body systems, symptoms include severe fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, problems thinking and concentrating, pain, and worsened memory. Post-exertional malaise (PEM), a distinguishing feature of the illness, is the worsening of symptoms after physical or mental activity.

Scientists have not determined the cause or causes of ME/CFS. Although more common in women, ME/CFS affects people of all ages, including children, and people of all races and ethnicities. Individuals with ME/CFS, their families and caregivers, employers, and society endure significant costs associated with ME/CFS. These costs are estimated to be $18-51 billion annually in the United States. Researchers estimate that at least one million Americans have ME/CFS, but only 20 percent are diagnosed with the illness.